


If I Ever Feel Better

by wildseafairies



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-11-15
Updated: 2016-03-19
Packaged: 2018-05-01 16:04:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,065
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5212124
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wildseafairies/pseuds/wildseafairies
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A collection of CS one-shots</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. If I ever feel better

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Today I fucked up...by trapping a girl in a revolving door](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/155408) by http://today-ifuckedup.tumblr.com/post/132840738415/today-i-fucked-up-by-trapping-a-girl-in-a. 



« I can never go back to the library. »

Ignoring the gleeful greetings from his mates, Killian let his body down on the bench seat with a dramatic sigh, the weight of the bloody awful day he'd been carrying with him dragging him down.

The pub was crowded, as it would on a Friday night. Also, Killian was late to their weekly gathering anyway. Everyone around their table seemed to be already quite plastered, if Robin’s cheers and Tink’s hysteric shrieks were any clues to go by. Only Will Scarlet remained impassive, sipping absentmindedly from his flask. Ah, well, that was another story: if Will was still standing up straight and still brooding in his corner of the booth, Killian supposed he wasn’t _that_ late.

« You've been banned or something? » Tink asked, curiosity sparkling in her eyes. 

« I’m sure it’s nothing, mate. Oi, Ruby! »

The part-time waitress turned around with a whip of her impossibly long ponytail, red streaks catching light, one hand impatiently propped on her hip. She lifted a questioning eyebrow to which Robin only winked in response. (God, the man was _such_ a flirt when inebriated, it was impossible.)

« Ruby love, bring the lad a Guinness, would’ya? » 

« Shots too! » Tink ordered, hands clasping together with excitement.

A short but animated debate about the appropriate time to order shots then ensued between the two ("It's 10 o'clock, _Olivia_. We're not doing shots at 10 o'clock..." "-Do _not_ call me that, you know I despise it."), but Ruby was long gone.

Directly facing him, Belle seemed to be the only one left to still be able to distinguish her left side from her right side. Side-eyeing their friends, she shook her head with an amused smile before turning to Killian.

« So. Have you really been banned from the library? Want me to pull out some strings for you? »

Killian winced, embarrassment creeping up his cheeks, coloring them in a subtle shade of pink. Everyone turned to stare at him, of course. He deeply regretted bringing it up at all, now.

« Did you get caught shagging someone in the dinosaurs’ section? »

The whole table grimaced at Scarlet’s comment.

« Thanks very much for the visual, Will. » Belle replied with exasperation.

Ruby came back with their order, providing a much needed distraction to the group. Killian took a long gulp from his beer, while the rest of them were tossing down their tequilas. But soon enough, their attention span right back at him. ("Come on, Jones, spill it!") He looked down and started playing with the condensation on the glass of his bottle. 

« Oh well, nothing much. My life is over, is all. »

« Always so bloody dramatic, that one. » Robin grinned, pointing his finger at him.

With an annoyed grunt, Killian dived his head into his hands. He should have kept his bloody gob shut. There was no way he was getting out of it now.

« All right, all right…» He consented, reluctant. « But promise you won’t laugh, aye? »

The whole table nodded in agreement. Killian eyed them, skeptic. _Rubbish_ , he thought with amusement.

(He knew them better than that.)

« So. I was leaving the library earlier, through the revolving door. »

Tink lifted a hand almost immediately, interrupting him. « There’s a revolving door in the library? Where? »

« Uh, try the front door, maybe? » Scarlet mocked.

« How would you know? You never go there! » Belle commented.

« Yeah? Tell that to the sweet lass I sh- »

« Shhh! I wanna hear the rest of it… » Robin protested.

Ignoring the lot of them, Killian went on: « If you’re a polite person, it’s basically muscle memory to hold the door open for whoever’s behind you, aye? »

« Debatable. » Merida grinned, moving her arm around Mulan’s shoulders.

« Anyway. I was reading something on my bloody phone, so I was distracted. » Killian then explained, sipping his Guinness. « And suddenly, I realize there’s this gorgeous lass behind me. »

A collective "wouuuuh" of appreciation resonated, almost covering the ambiant clamor of the pub. Killian blushed, and held out a hand, shaking his head.

« Now picture this: she had coffee in one hand and books in the other… »

« Oh boy. » Tink whispered, before gulping down another shot of tequila.

« …I really don’t know what got into me… »

Will scoffed at him. « Ouh, I’d sure give my two cents on that, mate. »

« …But I held my hand back to stop the motion of the door… »

« Oh boy. » Tink repeated. 

« ...She walked right into the glass, coffee spilled all over her sweater, the books went tumbling down… It was a bloody mess. »

He gulped down the rest of his drink and shook his head in desperation, replaying the scene over and over in his head, in slow motion, like it would in a movie.

He was looking above his shoulder, she was walking towards him, hips swaying one way to the other, blond hair cascading on her shoulders in silky waves. Somewhere inside his undeniably  _deranged_ brain, the first notes of "Lay All Your Love On Me" by ABBA had started playing (" _ABBA? seriously?_ ). She was a vision, there was no other word for it, mesmerizing in every way. And then, the impossible happened: she threw him a glance, batting her eyes, lips stretching in a thin smile. He could feel his insides shrink up, his heart melting like butter on a warm toast.

He could see his hand now, reaching for the door, grabbing it, stopping the mechanism. He could see her face, radiant in the soft autumn light, all green eyes and pink cheeks. A slight frown was creasing between her brows. Right at that moment, the glass hit her forehead. Coffee spilled everywhere. Books tumbled down. She looked up, her expression switching from "What the hell are you doing?" to "I'm going to murder you any second now" so quickly he didn't even had time to wrap his mind around what just happened. Behind the glass, the girl started yelling at him. 

Belle's voice brought him back to reality:

« What did you do? » 

He shrugged.

« What any sensible person would have done: I panicked and ran. »

« _Oh boy_. »

Once again, a collective "noooooo" covered the clamor of the pub. Belle couldn't resist the urge to facepalm. A moment after, comments were streaming in every direction. ("What do you mean, you _ran_?" ; "You didn't apologize?" ; "Wait, you didn't even help her?" ; "Poor lass." ; "What is _wrong_ with you?") Killian nodded, matter-of-factly. 

He lifted his empty beer in derision: « Today, ladies and gentlemen, I fucked up...by trapping a girl in a revolving door! It's all right, you can laugh now. »

But, surprisingly enough, nobody did ; they only winced in unison. Robin patted his shoulder with a sympathetic nod.  

« All right, mate, after that, you deserve another round. Does anyone see Rub-» 

But Killian interrupted him. « That's all right mate, I'll walk up to the bar myself. »

He got up and cleared his way up to the bar absentmindedly to order the other round. He waited for Ruby's return at the bar, leaning against the counter and let his thoughts carry him away.

He had made an _absolute_ fool of himself today. He couldn't believe it himself. A quiet laugh escaped him as he was remembering the scene once again. It was almost comical now, really.

Now he was thinking of it, she looked positively pissed, trapped like a caged animal behind that glass door. He bet she would have gladly chased him down if she hadn't been trapped ; she looked like a tough lass. Another smile escaped his lips at the thought.

Ruby reappeared and he proceeded to order their drinks, flirting a bit with her because _why the hell not_? Moments after, he was turning around with a wink to the brunette by way of thanking her, when his body entered in collision with something, or rather someone.  _Ugh._ It was obviously not his day.  

A sharp voice protested. « Seriously?! »

« Bloody hell, I'm so-»

« You! » 

He looked down, slightly annoyed, and met a pair of sulking green eyes.

The lass from the revolving door incident was staring (quite angrily) at him. She had changed into a silky emerald blouse, a color that suited her complexion perfectly, especially since their collision had resulted in her spilling most of her drink on herself, leaving the damp fabric clugging to her every forms. _Bloody hell._  

« You're the jerk who trapped me in the revolving door! »

And with a sudden whip of her wrist, she threw the rest of her drink—mojito, he tasted— to his face. Despite the situation, he couldn't help but smile like the idiot that he was, cold liquid dripping down his face. _Tough lass_ , indeed. 

« Aye...fair enough. I deserved that. » He said, wrinkling his eyes to remove the cold liquid.

« Damn right! »

On that note, she turned her back on him, mumbling a succession of colourful insults under her breath as she went. Still awe-struck, he didn't move for a second or two, before coming back to his senses. He simply couldn't believe his luck. He thought he'd never see her again, and there she was. He hurried himself and followed her through the crowd, grabbing a handful of napkins on his way to dry his face with it.

Finally, he caught her by the wrist. 

« Wait! » 

She looked down at his hand and his grasp on her wrist, and then back at him, severely. He let go of her (before she had the chance to hit him in the face or something). 

« Let me buy you a drink. » He shrugged, grinning. « I owe you that much. »

« Oh, you think? » She spat, pointing the state of her shirt with an angry finger. « That's twice in a day! And do you have _any idea_ how hard it is to wash coffee off white cashmere? »

He scratched behind his right ear in discomfort. « I, err...I can't say that I do. Listen, love, I apologize for my unbelievably rude behaviour. I don't know what the devil I was thinking...»

« Tell that to the bump on my head! »

« Aye...I...I panicked. »

She lifted an eyebrow, unimpressed.

« I'm sorry. » He asserted, locking eyes with her, all the while doing his best to ignore the butterflies trapped in his ribcage. 

Something shifted in her face. He observed her soften, obviously confused. For the first time in what seemed like forever, Killian dared to hope. 

« Come on lass, take a leap of faith. » He grinned, extending a hand. « Name's Killian. »

Her gaze left his eyes to look at his hand, then back at him, eyelashes batting against the tender curve of her cheekbones. Finally, she took his hand. 

« Emma. » 

//

Much later that night, his phone buzzed with an incoming text. 

E: **_Technically, you owe me coffee, too._**


	2. Only You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's karaoke night and it's Emma's turn to get up on stage, much to her dismay...

PART 1

 

" _Mary_. _Margaret_. I'm not going out."

Her roommate, too busy rummaging through Emma's wardrobe, hummed absentmindedly in reply. 

Around here, Friday nights usually went a little like this: someone from the gang would text them to go out for drinks at the last minute, Emma would take a look at her dark circles and greasy hair in the mirror and decline. Mary Margaret would then proceed to pout and harass her like there was no tomorrow. Sadly, this little charade usually resulted in Emma's defeat, and history was about to repeat itself once more.

Except that this time, Emma was not planning on caving in: she wanted this night to go her way, for once, and it included solitude, ice cream, pyjamas and old Hollywood classics. And like she was stating, she had the 'pyjamas' part already covered.

"So good luck with that," she let out, limbs spread out on her bed like a starfish, letting her future sister-in-law ramble and plead, feigning to listen. 

"Is it because Killian can't make it?"

That last sentence made Emma finally crack an eye open. "Since when does Killian Jones have anything to do with any of the decisions I make?"

Mary Margaret contemplated an emerald blouse for a moment, before hanging it back in the closet, shaking her head. "Oh, I was just saying... You two look awfully smitten. I understand you know..."

If there was one thing Emma's world did not revolve around, it was men. She propped herself on her feet and made her way to the bathroom. She had a point to make. 

 ***

 _Well_. It was safe to say that her plan was backfiring. 

Granny's pub, famous on campus, was known and appreciated for its memorable karaoke nights. Which was exactly something Emma actively avoided. 

But of course, with her luck, it had to be _that kind_ of night. Not only was it karaoke night, but also the Emma's-losing-every-game they're-playing night (apparently). Which was the reason why she was making her way towards the stage where Elsa was waiting, having finished an astounding rendition of 'Ice Ice Baby'. There was no way she could ever top that. (Especially since she had to sing a Disney song.)

Emma shot a murderous look back at the rest of the gang, making a mental note to herself: the next time she needed to prove something to someone, making sure there couldn't be any chance the night turned into her personal nightmare would be a prerogative. Looking for support was useless: she'd fallen into a conspiration. David was the only one to have the decency to display a sympathetic face, but he wasn't fooling her. She could damn well see him exchange amused grins with Victor behind his beer stein. 

Catching Ruby's red streaks in the corner of her eye, she slid in her direction, making a quick detour that owed her some protests from her friends. 

"Ruby! Please, save me from this", she pleaded, gripping her friend's forearm. "I'm not nearly drunk enough for this."

With a laugh, the brunette whirled around, and a second later, presented her with two shots of tequila. Emma stared at her dead in the eye for a split second, before quickly giving in, sighing to manifest her defeat. 

Ruby shot a quizzical eyebrow. "How 'bout now?" 

Emma felt Elsa's palm pressed against her back. She nodded and grabbed the mic from her friend's hands. Someone whistled through the clamour of the pub and she could feel her throat shrinking up by the second.

"Come on, don't be such a baby!"

Emma nodded, tequila still burning the inside of her throat and grabbed the mic from her friend's hands. Someone whistled through the clamour of the pub.she could feel her throat shrinking up by the second.

If there was something you needed to know about Emma, it was that she’d never been the type to try and grab the spotlight. That was her brother’s thing. She liked to think of it that way: David was the sun, she was the moon. They simply didn’t shine the same. And she really, really liked her spot in the shadows.

But there sure was no shadow on that stage. Her only consolation was that at least, Killian wasn’t there to witness this very public embarrassment. (She was not exactly sure why he popped out in her head right now, but she’d probably hear about it for the rest of her life.) She rolled her eyes at the thought, cursing herself interiorly. After all, she'd only known the guy for a few weeks. And he was just a guy. One of many. Nothing to fuss about. Right?

 _Right._  

  
The song started with a soft, groovy and very 80s familiar beat. She cast a quick eye to the screen: 'I Won’t Say I’m In Love', by Belinda Carlisle. Well, this should be fun. At least, she knew how the song went. Gripping the mic with both hands as if she was holding on for dear life, she began to tap her feet along with the beat.

If she was going to embarrass herself, she was going all in.

 _« Who’d ya think you’re kiddin’_  
_He’s the Earth and heaven to you_  
_Try to keep it hidden_  
_Honey, we can see right through you_  
_Girl, ya can’t conceal it_  
_We know how ya feel and_  
_Who you’re thinking of..._

 _No chance, no way_  
_I won’t say it, no, no_  
_You swoon, you sigh_  
Why _deny it, uh-oh_  
_It’s too cliche_  
_I won’t say I’m in love »_

Tequila must finally be kicking in, because she belted out the last word. Along with her ridiculous friends, the people in the front row were now cheering in appreciation, too. She blushed slightly, but definitely more at ease with the next couple of verse, she tightened her grip around the mic and shook her head a little in rhythm. The whole bar was swaying and cheering by then, and so she started to sway too, putting on a show, and soon her audience was clapping along. A smile escaped her.

Suddenly catching a familiar glimpse of stormy blue eyes, she almost missed her next cue, feeling like her heart was standing on the edge of a very dangerous cliff. (Tequila was to blame.) 

There was definitely something about Killian Jones that made you want to look twice. And so that's what she did, a frank smile stretching her lips. Ever since he'd had (quite literally) crashed into her life, she’d had thought that he was a little out of this time. Out of this world, maybe. She watched him lean against the counter, barely registering the irony of the situation. 

 _« I thought my heart had learned its lesson_  
_It feels so good when you start out_  
_My head is screaming "get a grip, girl"_  
_Unless you're dying to cry your heart out »_

  
And so it hit her.  
It was brutal and it caused her breath to catch for a moment on the impact. She forgot herself, she forgot she was up on a stage singing in front of dozens of strangers, she forgot every one of them had eyes on her, that everybody could see her.   
She saw him, and it just hit her. _Oh_ , she had it bad all right.  
It dawned on her at this very moment that she was in love with him. Worse, she  _loved_ him. Which always felt like two different things to her, she wasn't sure why. It didn’t really matter, because she felt it both way.

She was brought back to reality by a blaze of light from the spotlight above her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi hi hi! It's been a while since I've been on here, trust me, I know. Soooooo, this one has been in my drafts forever, and I thought I'd whip it out (I needed a little writing exercise tbh, and I missed fanfic, and my little cs babies.)
> 
> I'm still working on part 2, so keep an eye out! :) Hope you'll like it!


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